Magnetic field fluctuation properties of coronal mass ejection-driven sheath regions in the near-Earth solar wind

In this work, we investigate magnetic field fluctuations in three coronal mass ejection (CME)-driven sheath regions at 1 AU, with their speeds ranging from slow to fast. The data set we use consists primarily of high-resolution (0.092 s) magnetic field measurements from the Wind spacecraft. We analyse magnetic field fluctuation amplitudes, compressibility, and spectral properties of fluctuations. We also analyse intermittency using various approaches; we apply the partial variance of increments (PVIs) method, investigate probability distribution functions of fluctuations, including their skewness and kurtosis, and perform a structure function analysis. Our analysis is conducted separately for three different subregions within the sheath and one in the solar wind ahead of it, each 1 h in duration. We find that, for all cases, the transition from the solar wind ahead to the sheath generates new fluctuations, and the intermittency and compressibility increase, while the region closest to the ejecta leading edge resembled the solar wind ahead. The spectral indices exhibit large variability in different parts of the sheath but are typically steeper than Kolmogorov's in the inertial range. The structure function analysis produced generally the best fit with the extended p model, suggesting that turbulence is not fully developed in CME sheaths near Earth's orbit. Both Kraichnan-Iroshinikov and Kolmogorov's forms yielded high intermittency but different spectral slopes, thus questioning how well these models can describe turbulence in sheaths. At the smallest timescales investigated, the spectral indices indicate shallower than expected slopes in the dissipation range (between 2 and 2 :5), suggesting that, in CME-driven sheaths at 1 AU, the energy cascade from larger to smaller scales could still be ongoing through the ion scale. Many turbulent properties of sheaths (e.g. spectral indices and compressibility) resemble those of the slow wind rather than the fast. They are also partly similar to properties reported in the terrestrial magnetosheath, in particular regarding their intermittency, compressibility, and absence of Kolmogorov's type turbulence. Our study also reveals that turbulent properties can vary considerably within the sheath. This was particularly the case for the fast sheath behind the strong and quasi-parallel shock, including a small, coherent structure embedded close to its midpoint. Our results support the view of the complex formation of the sheath and different physical mechanisms playing a role in generating fluctuations in them.Peer reviewe

Enceladus and Titan: Emerging Worlds of the Solar System (ESA Voyage 2050 White Paper)

Some of the major discoveries of the recent Cassini-Huygens mission have put Titan and Enceladus firmly on the Solar System map. The mission has revolutionised our view of Solar System satellites, arguably matching their scientific importance with that of their planet. While Cassini-Huygens has made big surprises in revealing Titan's organically rich environment and Enceladus' cryovolcanism, the mission's success naturally leads us to further probe these findings. We advocate the acknowledgement of Titan and Enceladus science as highly relevant to ESA's long-term roadmap, as logical follow-on to Cassini-Huygens. In this white paper, we will outline important science questions regarding these satellites and identify the pertinent science themes we recommend ESA cover during the Voyage 2050 planning cycle. Addressing these science themes would make major advancements to the present knowledge we have about the Solar System, its formation, evolution and likelihood that other habitable environments exist outside the Earth's biosphere

Staphylococcus aureus infective endocarditis versus bacteremia strains: Subtle genetic differences at stake

AbstractInfective endocarditis (IE)(1) is a severe condition complicating 10–25% of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia. Although host-related IE risk factors have been identified, the involvement of bacterial features in IE complication is still unclear. We characterized strictly defined IE and bacteremia isolates and searched for discriminant features. S. aureus isolates causing community-acquired, definite native-valve IE (n=72) and bacteremia (n=54) were collected prospectively as part of a French multicenter cohort. Phenotypic traits previously reported or hypothesized to be involved in staphylococcal IE pathogenesis were tested. In parallel, the genotypic profiles of all isolates, obtained by microarray, were analyzed by discriminant analysis of principal components (DAPC)(2). No significant difference was observed between IE and bacteremia strains, regarding either phenotypic or genotypic univariate analyses. However, the multivariate statistical tool DAPC, applied on microarray data, segregated IE and bacteremia isolates: IE isolates were correctly reassigned as such in 80.6% of the cases (C-statistic 0.83, P<0.001). The performance of this model was confirmed with an independent French collection IE and bacteremia isolates (78.8% reassignment, C-statistic 0.65, P<0.01). Finally, a simple linear discriminant function based on a subset of 8 genetic markers retained valuable performance both in study collection (86.1%, P<0.001) and in the independent validation collection (81.8%, P<0.01). We here show that community-acquired IE and bacteremia S. aureus isolates are genetically distinct based on subtle combinations of genetic markers. This finding provides the proof of concept that bacterial characteristics may contribute to the occurrence of IE in patients with S. aureus bacteremia

Observations in-situ de la turbulence compressible dans les magnétogaines planétaires et le vent solaire

Among the different astrophysical plasmas, the solar wind and the planetary magnetosheathsrepresent the best laboratories for studying the properties of fully developed plasma turbulence.Because of the relatively weak density fluctuations (∼ 10%) in the solar wind, the low frequencyfluctuations are usually described using the incompressible MHD theory. Nevertheless, the effectof the compressibility (in particular in the fast wind) has been a subject of active research withinthe space physics community over the last three decades.My thesis is essentially dedicated to the study of compressible turbulence in different plasma environments,the planetary magnetosheaths (of Saturn and Earth) and the fast and slow solar wind.This was done using in-situ spacecraft data from the Cassini, Cluster and THEMIS/ARTEMISsatellites.I first investigated the properties of MHD and kinetic scale turbulence in the magnetosheathof Saturn using Cassini data at the MHD scales and compared them to known features of thesolar wind turbulence. This work was completed with a more detailed analysis performed in themagnetosheath of Earth using the Cluster data. Then, by applying the recently derived exactlaw of compressible isothermal MHD turbulence to the in-situ observations from THEMIS andCLUSTER spacecrafts, a detailed study regarding the effect of the compressibility on the energycascade (dissipation) rate in the fast and the slow wind is presented. Several new empirical lawsare obtained, which include the power-law scaling of the energy cascade rate as function of theturbulent Mach number. Eventually, an application of this exact model to a more compressiblemedium, the magnetosheath of Earth, using the Cluster data provides the first estimation of theenergy dissipation rate in the magnetosheath, which is found to be up to two orders of magnitudehigher than that observed in the solar wind.Parmi les différents plasmas spatiaux, le vent solaire et les magnétogaines planétaires représentent les meilleurs laboratoires pour l’étude des propriétés de la turbulence. Les fluctuations de densité dans le vent solaire étant faibles, à basses fréquences ces dernières sont généralement décrites par la théorie de la MHD incompressible. Malgré son incompressibilité, l’effet de la compressibilité dans le vent solaire a fait l’objet de nombreux travaux depuis des décennies, à la fois théoriques,numériques et observationnels.Le but de ma thèse est d’étudier le rôle de la compressibilité dans les magnétogaines planétaires(de la Terre et de Saturne) en comparaison avec un milieu beaucoup plus étudié et moins compressible (quasi incompressible), le vent solaire. Ce travail a été réalisé en utilisant des données in-situ de trois sondes spatiales, Cassini, Cluster et THEMIS B/ARTEMIS P1.La première partie de mon travail a été consacrée à l’étude des propriétés de la turbulence dans la magnétogaine de Saturne aux échelles MHD et sub-ionique, en comparaison avec celle de la Terre en utilisant les données Cassini et Cluster respectivement. Ensuite j’ai appliqué la loiexacte de la turbulence isotherme et compressible dans le vent rapide et lent en utilisant les données THEMIS B/ARTEMIS P1, afin d’étudier l’effet et le rôle de la compressibilité sur le taux de transfert de l’énergie dans la zone inertielle. Enfin, une première application de ce modèle dans la magnétogaine de la Terre est présentée en utilisant les données Cluster

In-situ observations of compressible turbulence in planetary magnetosheaths and solar wind

Parmi les différents plasmas spatiaux, le vent solaire et les magnétogaines planétaires représentent les meilleurs laboratoires pour l’étude des propriétés de la turbulence. Les fluctuations de densité dans le vent solaire étant faibles, à basses fréquences ces dernières sont généralement décrites par la théorie de la MHD incompressible. Malgré son incompressibilité, l’effet de la compressibilité dans le vent solaire a fait l’objet de nombreux travaux depuis des décennies, à la fois théoriques,numériques et observationnels.Le but de ma thèse est d’étudier le rôle de la compressibilité dans les magnétogaines planétaires(de la Terre et de Saturne) en comparaison avec un milieu beaucoup plus étudié et moins compressible (quasi incompressible), le vent solaire. Ce travail a été réalisé en utilisant des données in-situ de trois sondes spatiales, Cassini, Cluster et THEMIS B/ARTEMIS P1.La première partie de mon travail a été consacrée à l’étude des propriétés de la turbulence dans la magnétogaine de Saturne aux échelles MHD et sub-ionique, en comparaison avec celle de la Terre en utilisant les données Cassini et Cluster respectivement. Ensuite j’ai appliqué la loiexacte de la turbulence isotherme et compressible dans le vent rapide et lent en utilisant les données THEMIS B/ARTEMIS P1, afin d’étudier l’effet et le rôle de la compressibilité sur le taux de transfert de l’énergie dans la zone inertielle. Enfin, une première application de ce modèle dans la magnétogaine de la Terre est présentée en utilisant les données Cluster.Among the different astrophysical plasmas, the solar wind and the planetary magnetosheathsrepresent the best laboratories for studying the properties of fully developed plasma turbulence.Because of the relatively weak density fluctuations (∼ 10%) in the solar wind, the low frequencyfluctuations are usually described using the incompressible MHD theory. Nevertheless, the effectof the compressibility (in particular in the fast wind) has been a subject of active research withinthe space physics community over the last three decades.My thesis is essentially dedicated to the study of compressible turbulence in different plasma environments,the planetary magnetosheaths (of Saturn and Earth) and the fast and slow solar wind.This was done using in-situ spacecraft data from the Cassini, Cluster and THEMIS/ARTEMISsatellites.I first investigated the properties of MHD and kinetic scale turbulence in the magnetosheathof Saturn using Cassini data at the MHD scales and compared them to known features of thesolar wind turbulence. This work was completed with a more detailed analysis performed in themagnetosheath of Earth using the Cluster data. Then, by applying the recently derived exactlaw of compressible isothermal MHD turbulence to the in-situ observations from THEMIS andCLUSTER spacecrafts, a detailed study regarding the effect of the compressibility on the energycascade (dissipation) rate in the fast and the slow wind is presented. Several new empirical lawsare obtained, which include the power-law scaling of the energy cascade rate as function of theturbulent Mach number. Eventually, an application of this exact model to a more compressiblemedium, the magnetosheath of Earth, using the Cluster data provides the first estimation of theenergy dissipation rate in the magnetosheath, which is found to be up to two orders of magnitudehigher than that observed in the solar wind

Parker Solar Probe

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Energy Cascade Rate in Compressible Fast and Slow Solar Wind Turbulence

International audienceEstimation of the energy cascade rate in the inertial range of solar wind turbulence has been done so far mostly within incompressible magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) theory. Here, we go beyond that approximation to include plasma compressibility using a reduced form of a recently derived exact law for compressible, isothermal MHD turbulence. Using in situ data from the THEMIS/ARTEMIS spacecraft in the fast and slow solar wind, we investigate in detail the role of the compressible fluctuations in modifying the energy cascade rate with respect to the prediction of the incompressible MHD model. In particular, we found that the energy cascade rate (1) is amplified particularly in the slow solar wind; (2) exhibits weaker fluctuations in spatial scales, which leads to a broader inertial range than the previous reported ones; (3) has a power-law scaling with the turbulent Mach number; (4) has a lower level of spatial anisotropy. Other features of solar wind turbulence are discussed along with their comparison with previous studies that used incompressible or heuristic (nonexact) compressible MHD models

Magnetohydrodynamic and kinetic scale turbulence in the near-Earth space plasmas: a (short) biased review

International audienceThe near-Earth space is a unique laboratory to explore turbulence and energy dissipation processes in magnetized plasmas thanks to the availability of high quality data from various orbiting spacecraft, such Wind, Stereo, Cluster, Themis, and the more recent one, the NASA Magnetospheric MultiScale (MMS) mission. In comparison with the solar wind, plasma turbulence in the magnetosheath remains far less explored, possibly because of the complexity of the magnetosheath dynamics that challenges any "realistic" theoretical modeling of turbulence in it. This complexity is due to different reasons such as the confinement of the magnetosheath plasma between two dynamical boundaries, namely the bow shock and the magnetopause; the high variability of the SW pressure that "shakes" and compresses continuously the magnetosheath plasma; and the presence of large density fluctuations and temperature anisotropies that generate various instabilities and plasma modes. In this paper we will review some results that we have obtained in recent years on plasma turbulence in the SW and the magnetosheath, both at the Magneto-HydroDynamics (MHD) and the sub-ion (kinetic) scales, using the state of the art theoretical models and in-situ spacecraft observations. We will focus on three major features of the plasma turbulence, namely its nature and scaling laws, the role of small scale coherent structures in plasma heating, and the role of density fluctuations in enhancing the turbulent energy cascade rate. The latter is estimated using (analytical) exact laws derived for compressible MHD theories applied to in-situ observations from the Cluster and Themis spacecraft. Finally, we will discuss some current trends in space plasmas turbulence research and future space missions dedicated to this topic that are currently being prepared within the community

Compressible Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence in the Earth’s Magnetosheath: Estimation of the Energy Cascade Rate Using in situ Spacecraft Data

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